


Taking Root

by strawberriesandtophats



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Found Family, Gardens & Gardening, Gen, Rebellion, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-08 04:48:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12857079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberriesandtophats/pseuds/strawberriesandtophats
Summary: Peridot shoveled soil into the small pots, covering the little rosemary and basil plants. Hopefully they’d do well in one of the windows of the beach house. She dusted off one of the windowsills and put the pots there, briefly admiring her work.Later, perhaps, she’d add a tomato plant or two.A reminder of the crops she’d left behind when Lapis had taken the barn.In which Peridot adjusts to life with the Gems after 'Back to the Kindergarten.'





	Taking Root

Peridot shoveled soil into the small pots, covering the little rosemary and basil plants. Hopefully they’d do well in one of the windows of the beach house. She dusted off one of the windowsills and put the pots there, briefly admiring her work.

Later, perhaps, she’d add a tomato plant or two.

A reminder of the crops she’d left behind when Lapis had taken the barn.

Planting the hydrangeas and the rest of the sunflowers was a priority. She collected all the little shovels and rakes they had used in the Beta Kindergarten and washed them carefully in the sink, breathing in the bright, citrusy scent of the washing liquid. The smell didn’t serve any functional purpose, but it reminded her of the lemon tree she’d seen while researching how to grow crops.

Better make sure that all her tools were as clean as possible, just in case.

It took several rounds of carrying water outside in a bucket to get the tractor sparkling, since the sand from the beach had taken up residence in every nook and cranny.

But it was a nice change from washing the shovels, even just for a little while.

Peridots were good at fixing things.

And this was a new start.

Her favorite shovel floated above the foam. A reminder of how far she’d come since she’d been told to go to Earth.

She left most of the gardening tools in the sink to soak, only drying her favorite shovel. There was plenty of time to fetch the other stuff later on.

So, she carried the heavy clay pots she’d found at the back of the barn a few weeks ago outside to the porch. Patting the soil on top of the sunflower made her breathing easier. Steven would be pleased to see that she’d already started on her project.

The not-rain sound of the shower meant that he was already awake.

“It’ll be nice to see flowers from the window,” a delicate voice said, and Peridot looked up from inspecting the stem of the flower to see that Pearl was smiling.

“It’ll make the view more diverse and interesting,” Peridot said, patting the soil lightly for good measure. “The sea air will be good for the flowers.”

Not long ago, she wouldn’t even have thought of the beauty of roots taking hold of the ground, wrapping itself around it’s surroundings. Or how a flower reached for the sky.

Pearl had known that for thousands of years.

“Steven said that you told Lapis that you believed that we could win,” Pearl said, leaning on the rail and watching the horizon.

A handful of gems against an empire.

“Our odds aren’t the best,” Peridot said, standing up and walking towards Pearl. “But I’ve seen how we can do the most amazing things if we work together.”

Pearl was silent.

Peridot had spent countless hours reading about Earth’s history and about the rebellion. Thousand of reports about the terrifying renegade Pearl, slicing through Quartz Gems and luring Jaspers into traps.

She’d seen glimpses of that Pearl when she was fighting, movements so precise and deadly that they could not come from anything but long experience and training.

Neither Peridots nor Pearls were made to fight.

That didn’t mean that they couldn’t do it.

“Besides,” Peridot said. “They wouldn’t know what hit them.”

Non-standard techniques, that was their only option because the high-class gems didn’t think it was necessary to teach someone like a puny Peridot how to fight. Better to just equip them with enhancers and allow them to learn how they worked.

Pearls saw every class of gem, every variation when they travelled around with their owners. How everyone moved and spoke and lived according to plan. How much passive information could a single Pearl utilize in a high stakes battle?

“They’ve rewritten history so that it looks like they won the war,” Pearl said.

Inside, the metallic clang of cutlery meant that Steven was eating breakfast along with Amethyst.

How many thousands of bubbles floated around in the temple, both enemies and shattered Chrystal Gems?

“Well, they haven’t managed to wipe us off the star maps yet,” Peridot said.

“They’re not going to,” Pearl stated, raising her voice over the sounds of Steven loudly admiring the herbs in the windowsills.

The look on Pearl’s face said that she’d take on the entire empire if it meant keeping everyone safe and sound. For a split second, Peridot could see the gem that had been written about as a recognized threat.

Peridot nodded just before the door behind them slammed open to reveal a grinning Amethyst with her arms full of clean shovels, still dripping water on the wooden planks. Steven had a floppy hat on his head and a few pots of white and pink flowers.

“Let’s plant those hydrangeas!” Amethyst said, already on her way down the stairs.

“We can put all the sunflowers near them too so that they won’t be lonely,” Steven said.

Peridot nodded and picked up as many small potted sunflowers as she could, leaving a few behind to be planted in the heavier pots she’d just managed to arrange on the wooden planks. She follwed Amethyst and Steven down the stairs, smiling at the way Steven ran to the tractor.

It was good to have a purpose again.


End file.
